1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to roadway construction and repair, and more particularly, to the formation, installation and system for making and attaching a pre-fabricated warped pavement slab, and the warped slab so formed.
2. Related Art
Heretofore, attempts have been made to construct and install pre-fabricated or precast pavement slabs. However, most attempts have been unsuccessful due to a combination of factors. For example, it is difficult to prepare and maintain a perfectly smooth sub-grade which is necessary to uniformly support the slab. It is even more difficult to prepare a subgrade that is warped meeting profile and cross-slope changes normally encountered in roadway construction. Attempts to make a pre-fabricated pavement slab with an accurate and predictable warp have been unsuccessful. Likewise, it is difficult to connect adjacent slabs in a manner that uniformly transfers shear loading from one slab to the next. Heretofore attempts to prefabricate such pavement slabs have been of an experimental nature and have been entirely inadequate and inefficient. Accordingly, there exists a need in the industry for a pre-fabricated warped pavement slab and a method of installing the warped slab that solves these and other problems.